Spriggs suffered a dislocated knee cap on the first play from scrimmage against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday night but he didn’t tear the patellar tendon, which means no surgery is necessary.

There’s a good chance that Spriggs could be ready for the start of training camp.

Spriggs had taken over for starter Bryan Bulaga, who tore his right ACL on Nov. 6 against Detroit. Bulaga’s recovery time is expected to be much longer and there’s no guarantee he’ll be ready to start next season.

Packers 2018 opponents set

The Packers are guaranteed to finish in third place in the NFC North, regardless of Sunday’s outcome against the Detroit Lions. That means the Packers know who they’ll have on their schedule, both home and away next season.

Aside from divisional matchups, the Packers will face 2018 home games against Arizona, San Francisco, Buffalo, Miami and Atlanta. On the road, the Packers will square off against the L.A. Rams, Seattle, New England, New York Jets and Washington.

The Green Bay Packers placed second-year offensive tackle Jason Spriggs on injured reserve on Tuesday because of a knee injury that he suffered on the first play from scrimmage in last Saturday night’s 16-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy told reporters on Sunday that Spriggs had suffered a series injury. Spriggs had taken over at right tackle after the Packers lost Bryan Bulaga for the season with injury.

With a roster spot available and another injury to tight end Richard Rodgers on Saturday’s game, the Packers signed rookie tight end Emanuel Byrd to their 53-man roster by calling him up from their practice squad.

Byrd is expected to back up Lance Kendricks on Sunday’s season finale against the Lions in Detroit.

If Bryan Bulaga didn’t have bad luck, he wouldn’t have any luck at all. The Green Bay Packers starting right tackle suffered a season ending knee injury in Monday night’s loss to the Detroit Lions.

Bulaga signed a five-year, $33.75 million contract prior to the 2015 season, but has struggled with injuries ever since. Prior to signing that new deal, Bulaga tore the ACL in his left knee and missed the 2013 season. He had surgery on his left knee to repair cartilage in 2015 and missed three more games. He missed three games this season with an ankle injury, followed by this season ending injury.

“I have bad news on Bryan Bulaga,” Mike McCarthy said on Tuesday evening. “It’s very unfortunate. He will be lost for the season with his knee injury. He’s had a stretch of bad luck this year. It started with the ankle injury there in training camp. I feel bad for him. I thought he had clearly come off his best season last year. Tough news today.”

Justin McCray is the most likely candidate to replace Bulaga moving forward, but McCray suffered an ankle injury on the final play of the Lions game. He was seen limping off the field after the game and McCarthy acknowledged Tuesday that McCray was in the facility on Tuesday for treatment.

Burnett out

Packers coach Mike McCarthy also said safety Morgan Burnett will also be unavailable for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. Burnett left Monday’s game with a groin injury in the third quarter and didn’t return.

Following Monday night’s 30-17 loss to the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy was asked about veteran tackle Bryan Bulaga’s right knee injury. While he hadn’t heard about Bulaga’s condition after the game, he did say that the team’s medical staff was very concerned.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning and the NFL Network has reported that Bulaga suffered a torn ACL in that right knee and would be out for the rest of the season.

Bulaga tore the ACL in his left knee during a training-camp practice in 2013. He underwent a second surgery in 2015 after tearing cartilage in that same left knee.

Bulaga missed three games this season with an ankle injury before the knee injury Monday night against the Lions.

According to ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky, the Packers will have had their first offensive line together for a total of 57 snaps, which is less than one-full game. Justin McCray will take over at right tackle for Bulaga for the remainder of the season. Although he’ll have to get healthy himself after limping off the field after the game with an ankle injury.

The Packers also saw safety Morgan Burnett leave early with a groin injury in the third quarter.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will have surgery on his broken right collarbone “in the near future”. That was the message from coach Mike McCarthy on Monday.

Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Monday that Anthony Barr’s hit on the Packers quarterback was “above board,” and said the Vikings are not a dirty football team. Mike McCarthy has different thoughts on Barr’s hit.

“He’s out of the pocket, he’s clearly expecting to get hit,” McCarthy said. “To pin him to the ground like that, I felt it was an illegal act. To sit here and lose any of your players on something like that, it doesn’t feel very good. Yeah, I didn’t like the hit. It was unnecessary, totally unnecessary, in my opinion.”

Rodgers was rolling out late in the first quarter. After he released the ball, he was hit by Barr and the Vikings linebacker continued to drive him into the turf.

As of Monday afternoon, surgery had not been scheduled according to McCarthy. But no decision on Rodgers roster spot will likely be made until after the surgery. [Read more…]

The Green Bay Packers held on to back up quarterback Brett Hundley instead of trying to deal him to another team for a high draft pick. They’re going to quickly find out if they made the right move.

Aaron Rodgers broke his right collarbone after he was driven to the ground by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr. The Packers confirmed the injury and said Rodgers could miss the remainder of the season.

The Packers went on to lose to the Vikings 23-10, falling into a first place tie with Minnesota at 4-2 atop the NFC North.

Rodgers missed seven games when he broke his collarbone in 2013, but that was his left collarbone. This is on the right side which should mean more recovery time. The fact that the Packers very rarely deal in time tables and almost never say an injury may be season ending while the game is still in progress could be looked at as a bad sign. [Read more…]

It took a while for Green Bay Packers right tackle Bryan Bulaga to figure out he was dealing with the dreaded high ankle sprain. He thought he was good to go when he returned to the lineup against Cincinnati, only to return to the sidelines in the second half.

Now, after some extra time off for the Packers, Bulaga is back practicing and is hopeful of returning to the starting lineup when the Packers face the Cowboys in Dallas on Sunday.

Bulaga said he still has some issues and isn’t totally in the clear. Then again, he said he probably wouldn’t be 100% when he returns to the lineup anyway.

Bulaga was joined on the practice field on Wednesday by starting left tackle David Bakhtiari, who has missed time with a hamstring injury that he suffered in the opener against Seattle.

Wednesday’s workout isn’t the most physical workout of the week. That comes when the players put the pads on Thursday. If both players can get through that without any problems, they both could rejoin the lineup on Sunday. It would give the Packers their intended starting five-man front for the first time this season.

Green Bay Packers starting tackles, David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga are both listed as doubtful for tonight’s game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field.

Bakhtiari hasn’t played since the season opener against Seattle, when he strained his hamstring. Bulaga aggravated his sore ankle in last Sunday’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

The problem for the Packers is depth. Kyle Murphy (foot) and Jason Spriggs (hamstring) have both been placed on injured reserve. Justin McCray got some playing time at right tackle but has little experience on the left side, which is where he will likely be if the two starters can’t go tonight.

Bakhtiari and Bulaga both practiced the last two days but both were limited. Bakhtiari wants to make sure when he returns, he’s back for good. Coming back too soon and then not being able to stay on the field isn’t something he wants to go through.

Adam Pankey started the season on the Packers practice squad. There’s a chance he could be starting tonight as well. The Packers added some backup help when they signed Ulrick John off of Arizona’s practice squad.

Cobb set to return

It appears that wide receiver Randall Cobb will play on Thursday night.

On defense, both Nick Perry and Mike Daniels are questionable. Perry would be playing with a club cast on his broken hand.

Davon House (quadriceps) is the only player that has been ruled out of the game.

The Green Bay Packers sent yet another offensive tackle to Injured Reserve on Tuesday, joining Don Barclay and Jason Spriggs. Kyle Murphy, who started the opener against Seattle at right tackle and then the next two games at left tackle, suffered a foot injury in Sunday’s win over the Bengals.

Murphy was in the locker room on Tuesday, wearing a protective boot and using a knee scooter. He could return after eight weeks, but the Packers can only bring back two players by NFL Rule.

The Packers host the Chicago Bears on Thursday night and Mike McCarthy doesn’t know who his starters will be. Both David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga practiced on a limited basis on Tuesday. The two players started all 19 games together last season but have yet to do so this year.

It is possible both Bakhtiari and Bulaga could return against the Bears, but the question would then be, can they finish. And if they can’t play all or a portion of the game, who would take over? [Read more…]